Bill seeks later school start times

State Rep. Matt Gaetz has filed a bill that would require high schools to start no earlier than 8 a.m.

Special to The News Herald

By MATTHEW BEATON | The News Herald

Published: Wednesday, October 9, 2013 at 05:18 PM.

PANAMA CITY — A Panhandle lawmaker wants high schoolers to get their beauty sleep.

State Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, filed a bill (HB 67) last month that would require high schools to start no earlier than 8 a.m. If passed, the new law would take effect July 1, 2014, and could leave some schools scrambling.

Gaetz said the bill would “increase student achievement.”

“The evidence is pretty one-sided that high school students don’t have the same cognitive function at 7 in the morning that they have at 8 or 9 in the morning,” he said.

An initial analysis of statewide grades has been done and — all other factors being equal — later start times give high schools a better chance to improve their school grade, Gaetz said.

He was unsure if the issue has come before the Legislature previously but said a group of pediatricians has been championing the idea across the country since the early 1990s, mostly at the school district level.

Both Washington County high schools begin at 7:45 a.m., and Superintendent Joseph Taylor said changing the start time there would create a domino effect, pushing start times back for all Washington County schools.

PANAMA CITY — A Panhandle lawmaker wants high schoolers to get their beauty sleep.

State Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, filed a bill (HB 67) last month that would require high schools to start no earlier than 8 a.m. If passed, the new law would take effect July 1, 2014, and could leave some schools scrambling.

Gaetz said the bill would “increase student achievement.”

“The evidence is pretty one-sided that high school students don’t have the same cognitive function at 7 in the morning that they have at 8 or 9 in the morning,” he said.

An initial analysis of statewide grades has been done and — all other factors being equal — later start times give high schools a better chance to improve their school grade, Gaetz said.

He was unsure if the issue has come before the Legislature previously but said a group of pediatricians has been championing the idea across the country since the early 1990s, mostly at the school district level.

Both Washington County high schools begin at 7:45 a.m., and Superintendent Joseph Taylor said changing the start time there would create a domino effect, pushing start times back for all Washington County schools.

Taylor said the move would not be a “big problem,” but there would be bus logistics issues. The county’s buses only make one trip, morning and afternoon, and would start the day later. Arrivals are staggered, dropping off students at the elementary schools first, then middle schools and then high schools.

Taylor was not bothered by the push to mandate start times, but he expressed concern about potential transportation problems. He also said he didn’t think 15 minutes would make a difference in how his high-schoolers performed in class.

Bay County schools would not be affected by the bill. Earlier this year, the Bay District School Board changed all high school start times in the district to 8:15 a.m.; they were previously 7:30 a.m.

The adjustment came after a lot of planning and discussion, said Superintendent Bill Husfelt.

“We have had nothing but positive comments about it since we’ve done it,” he said. “I’ve not had one negative comment about it.”

The change did hurt the district’s transportation situation, though, costing the School Board a little more to run its buses, Husfelt said.

“But I believe it’s worth it because all the research shows us that high school students really are higher functioning later in the morning than early in the morning,” he said.

Legislative mandates

Husfelt also said he wants the upper levels of government to butt out of the School Board’s business.

“While I believe it’s the right thing to do, I’m not so sure it needs to be legislated,” he said. “I’m always worried when Tallahassee or Washington start making laws to tell us to do something. I think it’s a local decision, and that’s the way we approached it.”

Gaetz anticipated this complaint and said he’d like for his bill to be “unnecessary,” but local school boards have not implemented later start times and he’s “grown somewhat impatient.” He said you have to “elevate the debate” at some point.

“We can’t just surrender student achievement to tribal school boards who are more focused on the transportation schedule than what happens to the child when they get off the bus, whether or not they’re actually able to learn,” he said.

Nearly all high school students in Okaloosa County, which Gaetz represents, begin school at 7 a.m. The 31-year-old representative recalled the early morning classes of his youth, too. Back then he blamed himself for his fatigue, thinking it was a lack of sleep or inadequate breakfast, rather than the natural adolescent physiology that limited mental acuity during early classes, Gaetz said.

“I’m not all that far removed from those days,” he said, “and mostly what I remember is having to struggle my way through first and second period.”

At Blountstown High School in Calhoun County, the day starts at 7:45 a.m., but Principal Debbie Williams said the impact would be minimal if the bill passed.

“It wouldn’t be too bad if it was just 8 o’clock; it would mean we’d get out a little later,” she said.

Williams said she’s a morning person and, unlike Husfelt, said children function better in the morning. She said she had not received any complaints from parents or teachers about the current start time, though some students have to catch the bus as early as 6 a.m.

The legislation would have a more significant impact in other areas of the state, such as Duval County, where all high schools start at 7:15 a.m.; Miami-Dade County, where some start at 7:15 a.m.; and Leon County, where some start at 7:25 a.m.

The bill has not been slated for a committee hearing, but it has plenty of time. The legislative session doesn’t begin until March 4, though committee meetings are going on over the next five months. The bill currently does not have companion legislation in the Senate.